The Thinker: A CMA Blog

Tomorrow, Hank Willis Thomas speaks at the Cleveland Museum of Art in person in a special guest lecture. But first, he sat down to chat with us about his influences, messages, and mediums of his work. Check out his shout-out in the clip on our blog!

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s British miniatures are renowned for their exceptional quality. Coinciding with the opening of the Cleveland Museum of Art's Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives exhibition, the museum recently published British Portrait Miniatures. Authored by Associate Curator of European Art, Cory Korkow, the book takes a closer look at more than seventy treasures from the museum's extraordinary collection, many published for the first time.

In honor of one year of Gallery One, we will be hosting a live Twitter Q&A on Thursday, January 30 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST, and invite you to share your thoughts and questions about Gallery One's technology and design, content and interpretation, and what we've learned along the way.

The Truth Booth is a giant inflatable speech bubble and interactive video recording booth by Cause Collective artists Ryan Alexiev, Jim Ricks, and Hank Willis Thomas. It will pop up around town through March - find out where on our blog, and share your truths in the Truth Booth!

While walking the west wing galleries where the collections are on view, one can't miss the the sculpture of Brahma in the center of the exhibition. The object, acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2007, was actually first titled Shiva as Brahma before being renamed Brahma. Why the name change? We asked Sonya Quintanilla, George P. Bickford curator of Indian and Southeast Asian art, to talk about the history and identity of this particular work of art.

As the first career-based, college preparatory high school internship program of its kind, Trinity High School’s Pre-Professional Internship Program places students in grades 10, 11, and 12 in professional settings one full day each week throughout the school year. Students provide valuable assistance to their corporate mentors at over seventy Cleveland area facilities, including the Cleveland Museum of Art. This season, three students from Trinity High School are interning in the curatorial department at the Cleveland Museum of Art, each focusing on a different project. We sat down to talk to them on their individual interests and experiences related to their internships.

Make and Take: Craft with Style at the Cleveland Museum of Art is a monthly event where we invite you to create DIY projects in the museum atrium. Each month introduces a new and easy craft to make and take home. In January, we learned how to create gem-like hanging pendants out of affordable materials to spruce up any event. Learn how to make this simple craft through our easy to follow tutorial!

Over the years the look, feel, and location of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s galleries featuring Asian artwork has transformed around the Seated Amitayus Buddha. See the transformation of the Asian-focused art galleries from 1916 through today in this special photo blog.

The Cleveland Museum of Art's Indian and Southeast Asian collection is rated as one of the leading collections in this area, both nationally and internationally. With the grand opening of the building and completion of the renovation and expansion project, the collection, along with the museum's distinguished collection of Chinese art, is on view once again. Just before the opening, we caught up with Sonya Quintanilla, George P. Bickford curator of Indian and Southeast Asian art, to talk about some of the highlights in the new west wing galleries! She shares with us an in-depth background on four of the must-see works in the collection.

It's been an exciting and eventful 2013 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, culminating with the grand opening of the building and west wing galleries! To celebrate, the Cleveland Museum of Art is hosting a variety of public programs and activities to commemorate this historic moment. Come See Amazing this week at the Cleveland Museum of Art! Take a look back at the last 12 months in our Instagram highlights flipbook, and add your own CMA Instagram moments to the reel. Happy New Year!